Boring head for machine tools



Jan. 25, 1949. y c. w. G. I AcEY ET AL 2,460,092 v BORING HEAD FORMACHINE TOOLS Filed April 26, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet l g Je 363 Jan. 25, 1949. Q c. w. G. I AcEY ET -AL 2,460,092

BORING HEAD FOR MACHINE TOOLS Filed April 26, 1946 5 'SheeS-Shet 2 @zum @gym/gw 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 c. w. G. LACEY ET AL BO'RING HEAD FOR MACHINE TOOLS Jan. 25, 1949.

Filed April 26, 1946 Patented Jan. 25? 1949 BORING HEAD Fon MACHINE TooLs .'Charles William George Laird Binns, Slough,

Optical Measuring Tools Limited, land, a British company Application April 26,

Section 1,

Patent expires January 6 Claims.

This invention comprises improvem nts in or relating to boring heads lfor machine tools. l

Boring head-s are known for fixing onra rotating spindle in which a tool is carried on a cross slide and the cross slide is geared to a longitudinally movable collar on the head, which collar rotates with the head and is connected through appropriate thrust means to a non-rotating member, or a member which can be held from rotation and which is provided with means to adjust it lengthwise relatively to the head so that the radius of the tool can be adjusted while the head is rotating and the present invention relates to a boring head of this type. Y

In such heads as heretofore constructed the diameter of the head in relation to the scope of movement of the boring tool is considerable on account of the amount of radial space taken up by the parts which are provided for longitudinal adjustment of the collar. It will be appreciated that the collar, so that it may not exert an undue amount of drag upon the non-rotating parts, is normally connected to these parts by a double ball-thrust race. Outside the thrust race is a non-rotatable adjustment-ring which is engaged by the thru-st race with the collar,V outside the ring is acasing relatively to which the ring is made adjustable longitudinally, being mounted on guide bars or their equivalent carried by the casing, and mounted on the casing is an adjustment sleeve, again outside the ring, the sleeve having screwthreaded engagement with the ring so that if the sleeve is moved relatively to the casing the ring, and with it the collar, can be moved longitudinally. The radial space taken up by these parts makes the head bulky and heavy in relation to the work which it is called upon to do.

According to the present invention the said sleeve on the casingis dispensed with, the adjustment-ring is made rotatable relatively to the casing and has screwthreaded engagement therewith and rotation of the ring relatively tothe casing is effected by gear teeth cut on the ring and operated by a geared member carried by the casing.

The inventiontherefore comprises in a boring y head of the type described the provision of-adjusting means for the collar consisting of an ,ade justment-ring and a casing surrounding the adjustment-ring, both the ring and the casing being mounted so as to be rotatable concentrically with and vrelatively to the head,V the adjustment-ring having a screwthreadedconnection with the cas- A ving so as to be moved tively thereto and also endwise by rotation relai having gear teeth oper-f Lacey and GeoHrey England, assignors to Slough, Eng- 1946, Serial No. 665,252 In Great Britain January 3, 1945 Public Law 690, August 8, 1946 ated by a gear member carried by the casing, to bring about said rotation relatively to the casing.

Preferably the `gear teeth on the ring and the screwthread thereon are cut so as to intersect one another with the object of affording a more compact arrangement.

In one form of the device the gear teeth on the adjustment-ring consist oi worm teeth and the gear member on the casing consists of a worm. in another form the gear teeth on the adjustment-ring consist of spur gearing and the gear member on the casing consi-sts of a pinion, or pinions, meshing therewith. In this latter case an internally toothed gear ring mounted on the casing may surround and mesh with the pinion gearing Yfor Yoperating the same.

v k'hevfollowingjis a description by way of example of constructions in accordance with the present invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawing-s, in which:

VFigure l is a Llongitudinal section through a boring head in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a cross section oi a part of the head upon the line 2-2 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is a cross-section upon the line 3-3 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows, and

Figure 4 is a half elevation and half longitudinal section of a second form of boring head in accordance with the invention.

Referring to Figures l to 3, the main body of the boring head consists of a member il having a tapered shank i2. The member il is cylindricalA along the portion which adjoins theshank l2 and is somewhat enlarged (and also circular as viewed in end elevation) at the end portion remote from the shank l2 so as to receive a cross slide i3 to carry the boring tool. The cross slide is held in place in a slot which is cut across the end of the body l l by means of a cover plate i4 which has a central slot l5 through it. The cross slide i3 has a recess i6 to receive the tool and the tool is secured in the recess by means of clamping screws il, VIliwliich are hardened and are of the type having reces-sed polygonal openings in their heads to receive a driving tool for tightening them. The tool projects from the cross slide through the slot f5 and has a cutting edge which can be of any desired shape. As seen in the cross-section, Figure 2, pads i9 bear on the sides of the cross slide i3 and the slide can be locked by grub screws 2E)r which lie behind the pads and can be screwed up to force the pads against the.N cross slide. When the grub screws pinion 23 in a slot 24 in the body portion Il of the head. The pinion 23 engages a secondpinionV 25 in the same slot, the teeth Vof the pinion 2,5 projecting at one side beyond the exterior of the cylindrical portion of the body Vl L An adjusting collar 2G surrounds the cylindrical has a close sliding fit thereon. The colla-r has portion amilV an internal keyway 2l which engages a key 28M on the head and diametrically opposite to the keyway the interior of the collar has rack teeth Y i 2.@ which mesh with the pinion 25. tudinal movement of the collar 2B Thus' longiried thereby. The collar 26 is hollowedaround its two ends so as to constitute a double ball thrust race member and engages'rballs 39, 3l. Closely surrounding the collar is an adjustment ring 32 having. an internal flange 33 at one end which bears on the race of balls 3E. It engages an internal sliding ball race member other end which bears on the race of balls 3l. The ball race member 34 is backed up by an internally projecting iiange 35 on an adjusting nut S5 which is screwed on the exterior of the ring 32 and thus serves to press the ball race member 3d towards the balls 3l and can be adjusted so as to take up all slack and'ensure that longitudinal movement of the adjustment member 32 will produce an exactly equal longitudinal movement of the collar 2S although the adjustment ring 32 does not need to partake of rotary movement with the collar. It will be appreciated that the collar 26 being keyed to the body 4I lpartakes of any rotary movement imparted to the boring head by the shank l2. Y Y

The exterior Vof the adjustment ring 32 is cut with a series of worm gear teeth 37 which extend around its whole periphery. The tips of the Worm gear teeth 37 are cut with ascrewthread `.38, so that the thread 38 intersects the Worm gear teeth.

Concentric with the adjustment ring 32 is a casing :l which is internally screwthreaded as shown at il to nt the screwthread 38 on the adjustment ring 31?'.V The casing 48 is supported from the body i'l by a ball race beyond the screwthread which is formed in the body Il at 42 immediately behind the cross slide I3. A race-way i3 isV formed on the casing to correspond and balls #i4 are interposed, The balls Vlll are held apart by a cage member 45 .and entry of dirt at the joint between the casing AllY and the body Il is prevented by a exible leather or other moulded ring 46 which is tted into the body 4i) and has a iiap to bear against the body Il.

There is a second ball race at the other end of the casing 40 Which is constituted b y balls 41, race-Ways 48 on the casing and 49 on a race member 53, a cage l and a dust-excluding iiap 52. The race member 59 has a sliding iit on the cylindrical portion of the body l lz is prevented from rotation relatively thereto by a key 53 and is backed up by a nut 5d which Works on a screwthread 55 on the body ll close to the'shank I 2. Adjustment of the nut 54 serves to take up all slack on the ball races and ensure-s that rotation of the casing #lil relativelyto the adjustment ring 32 will produce an'exactly equivalent movement or the adjustment ring without any backlash.

The requisite relative movement between the ring-32 and the casing 40 is providedby a Worm will produce cross movement of the slide I3 and thetool care' 34 at theV 'design Shown inthe 4 55 mounted in bearings 51, 58 (see Figure 3) in the casing 40 so that it meshes with the worm gear teeth 3l `cut in theadjustment ring 32. It is found Lthat owing to the compactness which results from the arrangement described, and especially from the screwthread 38 and the gear teeth 37 being cutjso as to intersect one another, and from theV absence of any provision for sliding movement longitudinally between the ring 32 and the casing 40, the boring head can be made .remarkably small in relation toits capacity. A1-

though the Voveralldiameter of the body H at the portion whichcarries the cross slide i3 in the drawing may beV made as inches, this is suicient for boring inches in diameter. The worin 5t little as 21/2 holes up .to 4

has .a spindle 59 which extends through the bearings 51, v58 and is screwed tightly into a head 60 at one end. At the other end it carries a thrust washer 6| which is held in any desired position of adjustment by a lock-nut 62. The end of the spindle has a Vpolygonal recess 63 so that it can be operated by4 inserting a key in the recess.

Such a construction as that described gives an extremely fine adjustment for the boring tool, which is desirable where `ine settings to particular diameters are called Afor but might be objectionable if the tool were being used for facing a boss. As an alternative therefore which provides a more rapid movement of the tool the construction illustrated in Figure 4 may be adopted. Here most of the parts are similar to those already described in connection with Figures l to 3 and are similarly numbered in the drawing but instead'of engaging the adjustment rim 32 with a worm the gear teeth on the periphery of the adjustment rings- .'iconslsts as of spur gear teeth S5 whicliintersect'the screwthread 33." The spur gear teeth 65 are engaged by a pinion B6 which runs on a pin 6'! xed in the casing fill parallel with the axis of the head. To allow the pin 6i to be inserted the casing 40 is formed with a Vseparate race member Sato engage the balls 47,

the race member t8V having a sliding t in the f end portion of the casing 4i] 4and capable of being removed so that it can be,v inserted in the casing after thepin 61 has been assembled therewith. The casing has an enlarged ange 59 which supports anl internally toothed gear ring 7S, the teeth or which mesh with the pinion 6E. The gear ring V'lil is further supported by a ring 'il which has asliding it on theextrior of the casing 4 and is pushedV up toward the gear ring i0 by means of an internally screwthreaded sleeve 1I threaded on the exterior of the end of the casing 40. The gear ring 'It is knurled ein ternally, as ir'idicatedn inFigure 4, at l to ahord a-handgrip to the operator and theV casing di! may vitself be knurled'as shown at 'li-4. The operator therefore can hold the casing 4l? frcmr tation bygripping the knurling is and can then Yadjust the boring teeth of the 'cross slide L3 to alter the radius'ofv its operation by 4rotating the gear ring T3; thus rotating the pinion Sii and the adjustment ring 32. A graded scale can be'placed in the portion of the gearf ring 10 which abuts against the ring 1|, if desired, to show the position of adjustment reached. This method of adjustment lsniore "rapid than thatV with the .worm gear of Figure l but neverthelessgives greatexactitude. Vit will b e appreciated that the gears 23, 25 and the rack teeth`22 and 26 need to be formed fully so that they mesh without any backlash butv this" can -r'eadilyA be Aait-:complished with modern gears.-

It will be noted that the casing 40 is mounted on the head by ball races 44, 4l which are located one on each side of the screwthreaded portion 4I of the casing so that the adjustment ring 32 works between them, an arrangement which affords good support to all the parts.

We claim:

l. In a boring head the combination of a body, a tool-carrying cross slide thereon, a longitudinally movable collar on the body, gearing con.. necting the cross slide with the longitudinally movable collar, an adjustment ring concentric with and rotatable relatively to the collar but connected thereto so as to move longitudinally therewith, a casing surrounding the adjustment ring and rotatably mounted relatively to the said body, a screw-threaded connection between the adjustment ring and the casing to cause the adjustment ring to be movable longitudinally relatively to the casing when rotated relatively thereto, a gear member carried by the casing and gear teeth on the adjustment ring, said gear teeth meshing with said gear member.

2. In a boring head the combination of a body, a tool-carrying cross slide thereon, a longitudinally movable collar on the body, gearing connecting the cross slide with the longitudinally movable collar, an adju-stment ring concentric with and rotatable relatively to the collar but connected thereto so as to move longitudinally therewith, a unitary casing member surrounding the adjustment ring and rotatably mounted relatively to the said body, a screw-threaded connection between the adjustment ring and the casing member to cause the adjustment ring to be movable longitudinally relatively to the casing member when rotated relatively thereto, a gear mem.. ber carried by the casing member and gear teeth on the adjustment ring which intersect the screw-thread thereon, said gear teeth meshing with said gear member.

3. A boring head as claimed in claim 2, wherein the gear teeth on the adjustment ring consist oi worm teeth and the gear member on the casing member consists of a worm.

4. A boring head as claimed in claim 2, wherein the gear teeth on the adjustment ring consist of spur gearing and the gear member on the casing member consists of one or more pinions meshing therewith.

5. A boring head as claimed in claim 2, Wherein an internally toothed gear ring is mounted on the casing member concentrically with the adjustment ring and the gear member on the oasing consists of one or more pinions meshing on the one hand with the gear teeth on the adjustment ring and on the other hand with the internally toothed gear ring.

6. A boring head as claimed in claim 2, wherein the adjustment ring is connected to the collar at one end by an internally projecting flange and ball-bearings between the ange and the collar and at the other end by ball-bearings and a ball race-member within the ring which race-member is longitudinally adjustable relatively to the adjustment ring.

CHARLES WILLIAM GEORGE LACEY. GEOFFREY LAIRD BINNS. l

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the Elle of this patent: 

